


Brace Yourselves

by Southernheart1026



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:35:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26065072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Southernheart1026/pseuds/Southernheart1026
Summary: After Dawson leaving, Matt was in complete shambles. Sylvie goes to check on him and finds a huge surprise.
Relationships: Sylvie Brett/Matthew Casey
Comments: 16
Kudos: 52





	1. 1

Dawson headed back to Puerto Rico without telling Sylvie goodbye again. She was broken, once again. So was Casey and she knew that. Gabby had become family to her but apparently, that was ending. She looked over from her bunk at Casey, pacing in his office and she was confused. Why was he up? What was he thinking? Will he be okay without Gabby? She tried to roll over and fall asleep but to no avail. The next thing she saw was the sun rising, so she got up and started the pot of coffee for everyone. Casey walked out of his office and into the locker room to change out of his work clothes and into some comfy street clothes.

As Casey pulled up to the house, he sighed and looked at his phone. It was still a picture of him and Gabby and little Louie. That's when life was perfect and that's when everything started falling into place, or so he thought. He opened the golden truck door and grabbed his bag before he walked inside. Before he could even look up, he heard footsteps. He quickly looked up to see his wife, she was home. He was shocked.

After talking, and ending their marriage, Matt was a little more at peace with the situation. Not that he wasn't broken, but he hated life a little less. "Oh, will you, umm, give this to Sylvie?" Gabby asked, holding out a picture of the duo when they worked together.

"Yeah, I'll make sure she gets it," He told Gabby, looking at the picture.

They exchanged goodbyes for one last time and one more hug before Gabby left with everything, but the one thing she left, was her paramedic jacket. Matt was in shambles the second she shut the door. He Didn't Want to talk to anyone, or go to work, or even shower. He just wanted to get drunk and that's exactly what happened. He pulled out a bottle and just drank it.

The next shift, Sylvie was walking around, completely lost. She had had some bad partners and was just told that Emily Foster would be staying at 51 for a while. She headed towards the bathroom, just to have a second alone and clear her head.

"Brett," Casey said, walking up behind her. She turned around to face him but honestly hated Casey right now. "Got a second?"

"umm, I'm pretty busy right now," She said, completely blowing Matt off and walking into the bathroom. Matt sighed and stuffed the picture back in his pocket, walking away.

Casey sighed and went on with his day. An apartment building was fully engulfed and going up even faster. Casey was making numerous trips in and out and by the 11th or 12th time, he sounded like he was coughing his lungs out.

"Casey sit down," Brett told him.

"I'm fine" he stubbornly replied before coughing more. Brett grabbed a water bottle out of the ambo and handed it over. "Now," She said sternly. Casey looked up at her and nodded before taking a swig of the water that Brett had forced on him. "Brett, what's going on?" He asked, knowing something was up.

"How could you just let her leave?" She asked, sounding angrier at him. "You just let her go!"

"I tried to stop her," He sighed "Trust me, I did." He said as he looked up at her. He pulled the picture out of his pocket. "She wanted me to give you this," He said and handed her the picture. Brett stared at t for a good minute before sighing and just sitting beside him. "So that's it?" she asked, looking at Casey sadly. All Casey could do was nod.


	2. 2

aaAfter Julie's death, Scott had taken the baby at the start. Soon after the 2-month mark, he'd relinquished his rights, leaving the baby on the firehouses doorstep. Sylvie, Immediately as soon as she saw the baby and papers, she knew.  
"Dammit," She mumbled, picking up the car seat and the legal papers before walking In the garage before the common room.   
"Sylvie?" Matt asked as she walked in, holding a baby car seat. "Is this her?"   
"Uh, yeah. she was left by the door" She said, handing Matt the paperwork. He started looking over it and saw the signature under the rights relinquished box before he looked over and saw Sylvie holding the baby.  
"She's cute" Matt commented as he set the papers back down on the table, gently moving the blanket to see the baby.  
"Thanks" She smiled, pulling the blanket down for him. "Wanna hold her?"  
"Are you sure?" He asked, not wanting to impose on the situation. Sylvie nodded, smiling as she gently handed Amelia over to Matt. Seeing Matt with a baby affirmed her crush even more but she didn't want to act on it. Gabby was his wife and her best friend, What kind of friend would that make her? Sure they were divorced, but that didn't make her any better with it.  
"So she's all yours then?" Matt asked, smiling as he handed the baby back over to her.  
"well, I think I'm going to adopt her. You have experience with that right?" Sylvie asked him, knowing that Gabby and he had the experience with attempting to adopt Louie.  
"Yeah, and I'll warn you up front, it's a very long and hard process," Matt told her, thinking back, "Louie's dad did relinquish his rights initially but did come back before we could take him to court. So whatever you do, make sure you don't lose hope and don't give up on this little girl" Matt told her, trying not to get emotional about it, Sylvie noticed and changed the subject.   
"Who would watch her?" She asked, snuggling the little girl against her.  
"Ask Hermann, Cindy used to watch Louie while Gabby and I were at work. Plus I'm sure his kids would adore her" Matt smiled, Sylvie nodding.  
"Thanks, Matt," She said, sounding genuinely grateful.  
"No problem," He said before he walked away to his officer's quarters to get some paperwork done.  
Sylvie went and talked to Hermann who called Cindy and of course, she agreed to watch the baby. She would just stop b the firehouse every day they were on shift after dropping her kids off at school. Thankfully, she was able to come and pick up the little bundle of joy, and take her home so Sylvie could focus on the coming shift.

After shift, she was ready to go get her child. She pulled up to Hermann's house behind him, walking in the doors with him and immediately smiling as Cindy brought the 2-month-old baby to her.  
"Hi, sweetie" Sylvie smiled, taking the child gently against her chest, as she let the baby snuggle against her.  
"She's precious Sylvie" Cindy complimented, making Sylvie smile.  
"Thanks, Cindy, thank you so much for watching her"  
"No problem. I used to watch Louie when he was with Gabby and Matt. I've become the firehouse daycare center" she chuckled, Sylvie also chuckling.  
"You should start one" Sylvie chuckled, pulling out some money to pay Cindy.  
"Oh no Sylvie, its no big deal," Cindy said, not accepting the money.  
"Please Cindy," Sylvie sighed, wanting Cindy to accept the money but Cindy did not.  
"No Sylvie, please use it for the baby" Cindy smiled, continuing "Use it for cute outfits and diapers"   
"Thank you, Cindy. I appreciate this" Sylvie chuckled, putting the baby in her car seat before carrying her out and setting her seat in the back of her car. Matt was going to meet her at the house with something for breakfast and to watch the baby for a few hours since she and Foster were up all night with calls. Sylvie was appreciative of the gesture, thanking Matt endlessly.  
"Seriously Sylvie, its no big deal" Matt chuckled, eating the breakfast along with her.   
After eating breakfast, Sylvie went and took a very long nap. The baby was very okay with Matt and very comfortable as he held her and fed her.  
Matt had experience taking care of a young kid after Louie.

A few hours of rest later, Sylvie came back out to ana adorable scene of Matt on the floor with Amelia laying on her playmat. She'd started smiling and anytime matt would tickle her or talk in a baby voice, Amelia would start smiling.  
"Well, looks like we're doing great out here?" Sylvie asked, chuckling as Matt looked up at her.  
"This little one is doing great. Me, I don't think I can get up. I am getting old ya know" Matt chuckled, Making Sylvie sit on the floor with them.  
"Feeling better after a nap?" Matt asked as Sylvie leaned against her couch.  
"Yeah, the nap helped, thanks for watching her" Sylvie smiled, feeling extremely appreciative of Matt.  
"No problem, its been forever since I got to play with a baby" he chuckled, sitting up and hitting next to her. "She had her bottle around 2 and had the full 3 ounces. Her diaper was changed around 2:30 and wow did it smell" He chuckled, rambling off the baby's last few hours so Sylvie knew when she would need to feed and change her again.  
"Why don't you just stay here" She half suggested, knowing that with the baby, she'd be leaning on him for help whenever she could.  
"I have been looking for a new place" He chuckled, "I think Kidd and Severide are ready to have their own space." Matt Chuckled, only half-joking.  
"Then move in here. I have the extra room by the baby's" Sylvie smiled as she pointed down the hallway.  
"Maybe I will" Matt smiled, "Okay if you insist"  
"Awesome" Sylvie gushed, happy at the fact that she'd chosen for him to move in. WIth Otis sadly gone, and Cruz married and living with Chloe, there had been only one left.  
A room that Sylvie had wanted to fill, was now full as well as some help around the apartment and with the baby.


	3. 3

Juggling a baby along with work was very tiring and frustrating for Sylvie. Matt had been trying to help as much as he could but it wasn't always enough. Sylvie was insanely tired after being awake all night with the colicky baby, tired enough to know she shouldn't be driving. She thought she'd be okay with taking backroads to the firehouse instead of main roads but didn't quite make it. As she was turning into the firehouse parking lot, she didn't see the pickup truck coming at her, ending in her getting t-boned.  
Inside, where most everyone was, heard the loud crash outside and started flooding towards the garage doors. As they got outside, they were horrified to see the mangled silver car of Sylvie's, knowing that she was reporting for work.  
"Sylvie!" Most of them yelled, half running towards her car, half pulling the trucks out, knowing they were probably going to need them to extract Sylvie and the child from the car. They didn't notice the child until Joe looked inside and saw the car seat.  
"Guys she's got a kid in here!" Joe yelled, more of them running towards the car, starting to pry the door open. Chief Boden called it in, knowing their trucks would be out of service.  
"Sylvie!" Joe yelled, seeing his former roommate beat up, bleeding, and bruised as she was slung over the steering wheel.  
"Joe watch out," Kelly said as Capp pulled out the jaws and pried the door open. Foster was ready with a backboard for her partner. Matt and Kelly helped pull Sylvie gently onto the board.   
"I'll ride with her," Matt said, finally hearing the baby crying. They all breathed a sigh of relief as they were able to extract the baby from the car and place her safely in an ambulance, both her and Sylvie on their way to Chicago Med.

Everyone showed up as soon as a relief crew was called in for 51. Sylvie was part of the family and they all were very shaken by her accident. Her parents had been called and were on their way from Fowlerton, Chief Boden taking over as her emergency contact from then until her parents arrived in Chicago. Matt was feeling very on edge as he'd started to have feelings for the blonde paramedic. Kelly noticed the wringing of his hands, the pacing, and the quiet stares at the door that led from the waiting room to the treatment areas.   
A doctor soon came out and informed Chief Boden that Sylvie was in a room and now just resting.   
Matt was first that wanted to go see her, too bad it was in a hospital bed. He was lucky enough to be the first after a few hours when she was awake.   
"Matt the baby was with me," She said as she saw Matt coming in the room.  
"Oh hold on one second," he said, disappearing and returning with a newborn in his arms.  
"Shes okay?" Sylvie asked as Matt gently set the baby in her arms.  
"She's fine" Matt replied, gently sitting on the bed. "She was already looked at by Natalie, no injuries at all"   
Sylvie visibly relaxed, holding the child. "Good, I was so worried about this little thing"  
"I'm sure" Matt smiled, " What are you going to do tonight? Will decided to admit you"  
"Oh god, I don't know," She said, looking up at him.  
"I can take her?" he half asked, but was hoping she would say yes.  
"Would you?" Sylvie asked, looking up at him hopefully.  
"Of course I will" matt smiled, gently taking the baby as Sylvie handed her over. "We'll have a good night, right?" he asked the baby, even though the 3-month-old had no clue what he was saying.   
After hearing about the accident from her husband, Cindy immediately went to the store and bought a new car seat for the baby.  
Matt took the child home, texting Sylvie every time she woke up, ate, and whenever her diaper was changed. He was even sending pictures with captions as cute as 'I miss mommy'.  
In the morning, Sylvie woke up at around 8 seeing all the texts and pictures that Matt had sent her. She couldn't help but think that someday he was going to be an amazing father.   
Matt soon arrived with Amelia to see her mother, setting her car seat down as she got in the room.  
"Good morning" He smiled his most charming smile as he got the baby out of her seat. The baby cooed as she saw Sylvie, Matt setting her down with her mother. "How you doing this morning?"  
"I'm okay, just ready to get out of here" Sylvie smiled, holding Amelia in her arms. "I take it she did okay with you last night?"   
"She did awesome with me" Matt chuckled, "The texts didn't prove that?" He chuckled again, Sylvie also letting out a chuckle. "When are you getting out of here?"   
"Hopefully today" She smiled, I'm ready to go home and spend time with my baby."  
"Have you heard anything from Scott?" Matt asked as he watched Sylvie with Amelia.  
"Not a word. No texts. Nothing" Sylvie told him sadly as she smoothed down Amelia's little bit of hair. "I'm going to the courts, I'm making Amelia officially Amelia Simone Brett"   
"Sounds beautiful" Matt complimented her as Dr. Manning came in. Matt took the baby and left the room as they did the checks, pacing back and forth with the child to keep her calm.   
"Okay, Matt you can go back in," Dr. Manning said as she came out of the hospital room. Sylvie had passed every test thrown at her with flying colors.  
"So did they give you a day?" Matt asked as he walked back into the room.  
"Not yet but she said hopefully tonight or tomorrow." Sylvie smiled, immediately taking her child back from him. "Hi pretty girl" She smiled, setting her child on her stomach gently. she got extremely lucky with no internal injuries. "When did you plan on moving in?"  
"Well, recent circumstances are telling me that I should probably move in sooner or later," Matt said, chuckling softly.

"Yeah. You probably should"


	4. 4

Matt helped Sylvie get home when she was released and had Stella and Kelly help him pack his things up. Stella watched Amelia while Kelly and Matt loaded everything into a UHaul and his pickup truck.  
"So you and Sylvie?" Kelly asked as they carried the mattress to the UHaul.  
"Just roommates Severide" Matt chuckled, putting the mattress down in the truck. The 2 going back for the box spring and bed frame.  
"Yeah. Just roommates" Kelly chuckled, knowing Matt had been crushing on Sylvie for a while.  
"Just help me get this box spring" Matt said, trying to change the subject. Sure, maybe this was going to turn into something.  
Matt soon moved everything into the room in Sylvie's apartment while she was keeping the baby occupied. Once it was all settled, Matt joined them as Sylvie was cooing at Amelia.  
"How are you feeling?" Matt asked, sitting on the floor beside Amelia on her play mat.  
"Okay, I guess. Guess my head hurts a little but overall, I'm okay" Sylvie explained with a smile.  
"Thats pretty good for just getting released from the hospital yesterday" Matt smiled, playing with the baby's feet. Amelia loved that, she always gave the cutest little giggle.  
"Oh you like that?" Matt asked, laughing softly at the child. Amelia just giggled at him as he continued.  
"She seems to love you" Sylvie chuckled, sitting on the floor and leaning against the couch in the room.  
"I would hope so because now shes gonna be stuck around me" Matt smiled, sitting up next to her. He picked Amelia up and set her in his lap, making silly faces as he continued to tickle her. "When's her adoption day?" He asked, turning to Sylvie.  
"I'm hoping within the next month" Sylvie smiled, fixing Amelia's little bow headband.  
"So she'll be Amelia Brett?" Matt asked as Amelia giggled, hearing her name.  
"Amelia Simone Brett" Sylvie corrected.  
"Amelia Simone" Matt smiled.  
"Will you come to her adoption?" Sylvie asked a little hesitantly.  
"Of course" He smiled as he handed Amelia over to her future mother, well officially.  
"What are you going to do about work?" Matt asked, looking over at her.  
"Well, they said I can do light duty. I'll probably stay at the desk for a few weeks until I get cleared to go back to duty" Sylvie explained as she let Amelia bounce on her legs.  
"That's good to hear" Matt smiled, Amelia laughing as she bounced. Both of them loved the baby more than anything and Matt wasn't even the baby's father. The important thing was that Matt treated Amelia as if she was his own, even if he wasn't dating Sylvie or any kind of relationship for that matter.

The next day, they were on shift and Sylvie had dropped Amelia off at Cindy's house so her and Matt could go to work.   
"Okay honey, mommy's gotta go to work. I'll be back tomorrow morning. Bright and early" She told the baby, handing her over to Cindy.  
"I promise, we will have a great time. Just like always" Cindy smiled, taking the baby and diaper bag from Sylvie before going in the house.  
Matt and Sylvie then headed to the firehouse and walked in together. Members of House 51 were already speculating things as they knew that Matt moved in with her.  
After his apartment was set on fire, and he moved in with Severide, he'd been looking for a new place. With Otis' tragic passing and Cruz getting married and moving in with Chloe, Sylvie had been looking for a new roommate. It was the perfect plan.   
"You sure there's nothing between you and Brett?" Stella asked at the coffee pot as Matt was there.  
"There's nothing going on, why?" Matt asked, looking at Stella like she had 3 heads instead of 1.  
"Oh nothing, just that you guys moved in together, you're helping her raise her baby. All that good stuff" Stella said, keeping it all quiet. Her and Kelly had been on several dates with him and Dawson when they were married but now that Dawson had been gone for some time, she noticed that it did seem like Matt was moving on.  
"You and Kelly lived together before a relationship, didn't you?" Matt asked, chuckling softly as he sipped his coffee.  
"We did, but-" Stella said, stopping as she realized that she didn't have an argument.   
"There's your answer" Matt chuckled.  
"But, that doesn't mean that it won't turn into a relationship." Stella said, pointing a finger at Matt.  
"Don't you have compartments to clean out?" Matt asked, a little jokingly but also a hint of seriousness.  
"Yes sir!" Stella said before heading out to the apparatus floor.  
"Hey, thanks for the help this morning" Sylvie smiled, coming up to her now roommate.  
"No problem, shes too cute to ignore from my room" Matt smiled, walking over to the table where most of them ate their breakfast.   
"Well I appreciate it. I haven't gotten anything from Scott and I don't know how someone can just abandon their baby." Sylvie said as she sat beside him, in the same seat that Gabby used to sit in, and now It seemed crystal clear to everyone that Matt was in fact, moving on.  
"I don't know how either," Matt stated as he took a bite of the breakfast that Gallo had made.  
"I just wish he would call and tell me why. Why he gave her up? How is she doing?" Sylvie rambled off, before eating her own breakfast.  
Matt nodded in response as the bells went off, calling all the units in the house.

As soon as they returned, Sylvie had felt off about the whole thing. She had a child now and now she wanted to be home with her or even just see her. She sat down in her bunk and facetimed Cindy, so she could physically see her daughter with her own two eyes, luckily Cindy answered, holding the little girl in her arms.  
"Amelia look who it is, its mommy" Cindy smiled, bouncing the baby happily in her arms.  
"Hey baby girl" Sylvie smiled, seeing the child showing off her little toothless gums with a smile.  
"Say hi momma" Cindy smiled, making the child's little arm wave.  
"Aww you look so cute" Sylvie smiled, this making somewhat of a decision for her. She was going to be the best mother to this baby that she could possibly be. It didn’t matter what she had to do, she’d do it.


End file.
